Alaska Municipal League opposes proposed census residence rule

The Alaska Municipal League wants the Census Bureau to reconsider a proposed rule counting people where they "lawfully spent the greatest number of days" between Jan. 3 and April 1.

AML represents Alaska's municipal governments, which it said "rely extensively on Census data for planning, infrastructure, public safety, housing, transportation, economic development, grant applications, and federal and state funding." The Bureau on Monday extended the comment period from Oct. 13 to Nov. 2. Comments go through regulations.gov, docket USBC-2026-0628.

The proposal would also drop noncitizens who are not lawful permanent residents from the apportionment count and bar race, ethnicity and sexual orientation questions from the census form. The Bureau says it would count "the whole number of persons in each State" by usual residence, a process that "factors in an element of allegiance but otherwise should be colorblind." It calls Jan. 3 the congressional term's midpoint in census years and April 1 Census Day.

The rule names tax records as evidence of residence. AML called the approach "poorly suited to Alaska, where residents may spend extended periods away from home for medical care, employment, education, military service, family needs, subsistence activities, or other reasons without abandoning their permanent residence."

Some Alaska communities lack street addresses, some households use post office boxes, and records may point to a regional hub rather than someone's actual home, the league said. "Administrative records should supplement, not replace, local enumeration," AML said.

AML wants the Bureau to keep its established usual-residence concept, keep temporary absences from shifting residence away from a permanent home, test new criteria in Alaska, and consult directly with municipalities and tribal governments.

Municipal services like roads, emergency response and public safety do not depend on immigration classification, AML said, so the Bureau should publish a complete resident count at equivalent geographic detail even if apportionment uses a narrower definition.

The league also opposed dropping race and ethnicity questions, saying small-area data matter in Alaska, "where Alaska Native people comprise substantial shares of many communities." It said the American Community Survey cannot replace a full count in small communities.

Disputing the Bureau's finding that the proposal would not substantially affect the states, AML said, "In communities of only a few hundred residents, even small enumeration errors can materially alter per-capita statistics and how local needs are understood."